The Teacher’s Tool Kit For Literacy is the free podcast for motivated teachers and school leaders who want the latest tips, tricks and tools to inspire their students and school community in literacy learning.
Literacy expert and co-founder of Cue Learning Sharon Callen and special expert guests provide practical literacy insights that you can apply in the classroom today.
At Cue Learning, our literacy specialists draw on over 30 years of teaching and international consulting experience to deliver world-class learning solutions. We equip, empower and support teachers to become their authentic selves, using the fullness of the Australian curriculum.
To find out about upcoming webinars, and about how Cue can help you and your school, visit http://www.cuelearning.com.au/.
And you can get even more amazing teaching resources, right now, at https://www.teachific.com.au/.
To make sure you don’t miss any literacy learning tips and insights, please subscribe to our show on your favourite podcast player.
Produced by Apiro Media https://apiropodcasts.com
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The Teacher’s Tool Kit For Literacy is the free podcast for motivated teachers and school leaders who want the latest tips, tricks and tools to inspire their students and school community in literacy learning.
Literacy expert and co-founder of Cue Learning Sharon Callen and special expert guests provide practical literacy insights that you can apply in the classroom today.
At Cue Learning, our literacy specialists draw on over 30 years of teaching and international consulting experience to deliver world-class learning solutions. We equip, empower and support teachers to become their authentic selves, using the fullness of the Australian curriculum.
To find out about upcoming webinars, and about how Cue can help you and your school, visit http://www.cuelearning.com.au/.
And you can get even more amazing teaching resources, right now, at https://www.teachific.com.au/.
To make sure you don’t miss any literacy learning tips and insights, please subscribe to our show on your favourite podcast player.
Produced by Apiro Media https://apiropodcasts.com
Continuing her revolutionary approach, Hiebert distinguishes between narrative and informational text vocabulary, explaining how stories use varied words for familiar concepts while informational texts introduce new conceptual knowledge. She demonstrates using AI tools like Claude to create semantic maps, providing specific prompts for teachers. Hiebert warns against overwhelming students with excessive technical instruction, advocating instead for statistical learning through extensive reading. She emphasises children's natural brilliance as word learners, transforming vocabulary instruction from memorisation into joyful investigation while promising practical resources for implementation.
Dr Freddy Hiebert revolutionises vocabulary instruction by rejecting traditional lists and flashcards in favour of understanding English's systematic nature. She reveals that 95% of texts derive from 2,500 morphological families, where grasping one word unlocks related terms. Using her "bratwurst in a baguette with yogurt" metaphor, she explains English's Germanic, French, and Greek influences. Hiebert champions semantic maps over lists, demonstrating how students build meaningful word connections. She reassures teachers that many word families require no explicit instruction, focusing instead on systematic understanding.
As the conversation deepens, Rob critiques teaching approaches that block proficiency development, particularly rigid explicit teaching models. He celebrates South Australia's shift towards more engaging mathematics education while providing implementation strategies for schools. Rob connects mathematical proficiencies to assessment practices and future employability, emphasising that employers value problem-solving, logical thinking, and creativity—not test scores. Throughout the discussion, he maintains that rich, engaging tasks are the key to developing mathematical proficiencies, offering teachers practical resources through his website and webinar series.
In this enlightening conversation, maths consultant Rob Vingerhoets unpacks the four mathematical proficiencies: fluency, reasoning, understanding, and problem solving. He passionately argues these proficiencies are "the thing" in mathematics education, not just supplementary elements. Rob demonstrates how transforming closed questions into open-ended tasks creates opportunities for differentiation and deeper learning. Through examples like the "three cookie challenge," he illustrates that even young children can engage with complex mathematical concepts when presented with meaningful contexts rather than worksheets or PowerPoints.
Sharon concludes by addressing punctuation challenges with Year 4 students, using the protocol's fluency rubric to provide specific language for strategy development. She reassures teachers that even brief, focused conferences make significant differences in students' reading development. These conferences inform whole-class instruction when common issues emerge across students. The process teaches students to identify problems, apply strategies, and self-regulate their reading. By recording strategy goals on Reading Calendars and Anchor Charts, students develop into strategic readers who know which techniques to apply with increasingly complex texts throughout their critical Years 3-6 development.
Sharon addresses diverse reading challenges with older students. A Year 5 girl struggling with chapter book comprehension learns to apply visualisation effectively by keeping her "mind in the book" paragraph by paragraph. She develops a strategy of writing brief summaries at logical breaks. Another Year 5 student, transitioning from graphic novels to regular novels, discovers how text structure and organisation work. This student doesn't pause for punctuation or recognise paragraph functions. The teacher later connects this reading challenge to the student's writing issues, demonstrating how the Listening to Reading Protocol reveals critical connections between reading and writing skills.
Sharon continues describing her conferring approach, emphasising how giving students space to reflect develops their self-regulation. With a second Year 3 student, she identifies his awareness of misreading words without knowing how to fix them. By teaching the strategy "try a different sound," he immediately corrects all errors, making previously difficult text accessible. Sharon notes the importance of recording these strategies on Reading Calendars with dates. She emphasises conferring should occur with appropriately challenging books, helping students develop strategies for accessing increasingly complex texts rather than keeping them in their comfort zone.
Sharon Callen shares how effective conferring with students in Years 3-6 transforms reading instruction. She introduces the Listening to Reading Protocol that captures the Active View of Reading, guiding teachers through five-minute conferences. Sharon describes working with a Year 3 boy struggling to remember what he reads. By teaching him to keep both "eyes and mind in the book," the student experiences immediate success and independently develops a Post-It note strategy to track comprehension across chapters, demonstrating how targeted conferring leads to self-regulated reading strategies.
In Part 2: The Essential Classroom Setup in 2025, Sharon Callen dives into creating impactful literacy environments. She highlights how to launch reading and writing workshops with Teachific’s grade-specific units.
Sharon also explores word work, daily read-aloud rituals, and transformative assessment tools, including Nell Duke’s reading and writing protocol. Packed with practical advice, this episode inspires teachers to craft a thriving literacy classroom for 2025.
In this insightful podcast, Sharon Callen shares five foundational strategies to create a literacy-rich classroom: Classroom Libraries, Reading Journals, Quick Writes, Writer’s Notebooks, and Word Walls. These tools foster curiosity, empower students, and nurture lifelong literacy habits. Sharon explains how each strategy can transform your teaching, creating an inspiring environment where students can grow as confident, creative readers and writers. Stay tuned for four more strategies in Part 2.
In Part 3 of the podcast series ‘The Importance of Teaching Comprehension, F-2’, literacy expert Diane Snowball delves into practical strategies for fostering comprehension in F-2 learners. From the power of reading aloud and using nonfiction texts to teaching visualisation and integrating strategies naturally, this episode empowers educators and parents to cultivate curious, purposeful, and joyful readers from the start.
In Part 2: The Importance of Teaching Comprehension in F–2, Diane Snowball shares insights on building comprehension skills for young readers, focusing on cohesive ties, inference, and integrated learning. Part 2 of this podcast explores practical strategies like shared reading, the connection between writing and reading, and choosing quality texts.
Diane’s wisdom emphasises how decoding and comprehension grow together, using intentional teaching to foster deep understanding and joy in reading. Join this engaging conversation to empower young learners’ literacy journeys!
In the podcast “The Importance of Teaching Comprehension in F-2 – A Conversation with Diane Snowball,” literacy specialist Diane Snowball joins Phil to spotlight the often-overlooked role of comprehension in early literacy. Diane challenges the notion that comprehension should come only after phonics and decoding, advocating instead for integrating meaning-making from day one. She shares actionable insights on fostering listening comprehension through read-alouds, choosing texts with intentional language patterns, and encouraging curiosity in young readers. Diane’s approach champions reading as a holistic, engaging process from the very beginning.
In Part 3 of our podcast, Sharon continues to highlight an innovative protocol by Dr. Nell Duke and her team that guides teachers in fostering purposeful reading and writing in students. This tool helps teachers ask strategic questions, tailor observations, and support individual literacy journeys with clear, curriculum-aligned steps.
By emphasising purpose, decoding complexity, and year-on-year strategy building, this protocol empowers educators at every stage to create meaningful literacy experiences that align with students' developmental needs and curricular goals.
In Part 2 of “A New Assessment Tool for Teachers,” Sharon Callen dives deeper into effective usage strategies for a new literacy assessment tool. Sharing her experiences modelling the tool for teachers, she reveals how specific techniques in fluency, decoding, and comprehension can significantly enhance students' literacy.
By focusing on targeted strategies and real-time teaching, Sharon demonstrates ways to scaffold student learning that promotes independent progress. Tune in to discover actionable insights and methods for elevating classroom literacy assessment and instruction. Enjoy!
In Part 1 of the podcast "A New Assessment Tool for Teachers with Sharon Callen", Sharon introduces an innovative formative assessment tool, the Listening to Reading, Watching While Writing Protocol. Created by Nell Duke and her team, the protocol enables teachers to observe and respond to students’ reading and writing in real-time. Sharon discusses its value in guiding immediate instructional decisions without replacing formal assessments. By promoting teacher-as-researcher practices, this tool helps scaffold student learning, offering practical insights for personalised, dynamic teaching.
In part 4 of the podcast series, Sharon delves into a carefully curated collection of picture books. She highlights their ability to engage both teachers and students, while introducing themes like hope, resilience, and human connection.
Each book offers unique insights, from environmental awareness to emotional healing. Through her thoughtful exploration, Sharon demonstrates how picture books can inspire writing, spark deep conversations, and enrich classroom experiences, creating meaningful connections between stories and real-world issues.
In Blessing the Book: Nurturing Readers through Stories, Sharon Callen invites listeners into the magic of children's literature, exploring how thoughtfully chosen stories can captivate young minds and foster empathy.
In this episode, Sharon emphasises the importance of "blessing" books by honouring authors’ voices while guiding students in meaningful discussions. From environmental tales to imaginative fantasies, Sharon highlights featured titles and how they can transform classroom experiences, encouraging students to engage deeply with stories and their own creative potential.
In this episode, the podcast explores strategies for fostering student engagement in reading, drawing from Linda Gambrell’s Rules of Engagement. Sharon Callen highlights the importance of giving students choice, encouraging peer discussions, and guiding them toward appropriate book selections through "blessing the book."
The episode delves into how independent reading time and engagement inventories can support struggling readers, emphasising that engagement is built through intentional, consistent practice. Teachers are empowered with actionable tips to create a classroom environment that nurtures lifelong readers.
In this first episode of Blessing the Book, host Phil and experienced literacy educator Sharon Callen explore how professional collaboration, reflective teaching, and intentional planning can transform literacy classrooms. Sharon shares her experiences working with Australian schools, emphasising the importance of teacher agency and identifying classroom patterns to inspire inquiry. She introduces the concept of "Blessing the Book," focusing on motivating students to value reading. Sharon calls on teachers to foster a love of reading that lasts a lifetime. Stay tuned for part two!
The Teacher’s Tool Kit For Literacy is the free podcast for motivated teachers and school leaders who want the latest tips, tricks and tools to inspire their students and school community in literacy learning.
Literacy expert and co-founder of Cue Learning Sharon Callen and special expert guests provide practical literacy insights that you can apply in the classroom today.
At Cue Learning, our literacy specialists draw on over 30 years of teaching and international consulting experience to deliver world-class learning solutions. We equip, empower and support teachers to become their authentic selves, using the fullness of the Australian curriculum.
To find out about upcoming webinars, and about how Cue can help you and your school, visit http://www.cuelearning.com.au/.
And you can get even more amazing teaching resources, right now, at https://www.teachific.com.au/.
To make sure you don’t miss any literacy learning tips and insights, please subscribe to our show on your favourite podcast player.
Produced by Apiro Media https://apiropodcasts.com
